Quick Facts
Biography
Ric Viers (born 1973) is an American sound designer. He has also worked as a film director, screenwriter, and author.
Career
Viers has worked in freelance sound design since 1997, with his work appearing in libraries for Sound Ideas, The Hollywood Edge, Video Helper, and others. He has provided sound effects for companies such as Apple, Sony, and Adobe. Viers is the world's largest independent provider of sound effects to the movie, television, radio, and video game industries, with over 250,000 sound effects and over 650 libraries by 2012. His work appears under many titles and pseudonyms such as Blastwave FX, The Detroit Chop Shop Sound Effects Library, The Sound Effects Bible Library, Dr. Sound Effects and others.
Viers founded the Detroit Chop Shop, a post-sound production facility located in Macomb, Michigan. In 2007, Viers released his 100th sound effects library and founded Blastwave FX, a high definition sound effects publishing company, producing nearly 50,000 sound effects within the first five years.
Viers received a degree in film studies from Full Sail University and has published two books with Michael Wiese Productions, The Sound Effects Bible (2008) and The Location Sound Bible (2012).
In 2009, Viers became a spokesperson for Rode Microphones, producing video tutorials for the company's Rode University website; highlighting Rode's broadcast microphones. He is often a spokesperson for Sony Creative Software and is a frequent special quest speaker for Sony at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Conference in Las Vegas, NV; Rode Microphones, hosting several web video series for the company's Rode University site, promoting the use of their broadcast microphones; and other companies.
In 2011, Viers's studio launched a web series on The Sound Effects Bible's YouTube Channel called "The Detroit Chop Shop Video Diaries" which documents the work of Viers and his team.
Viers is good friends with producer/writer/sound artist Gary Wayne Allison with whom he runs Paperbag Theatre.
Sound Effects Libraries
The following is a limited discography of Viers's work. Credits range from producer, sound designer to partial contributor.
- App FX - Blastwave FX
- The Blastdrive - Blastwave FX
- Blastwave Imaging Elements - Blastwave FX
- Bugs! - Blastwave FX
- Buzzsaw - Blastwave FX
- Drones - Blastwave FX
- LFE - Blastwave FX
- Podcaster - Blastwave FX
- Pop - Blastwave FX
- Radio Meltdown - Blastwave FX
- Revolver - Blastwave FX
- Sonopedia - Blastwave FX
- Spoilers - Blastwave FX
- Titlewave - Blastwave FX
- WavFX - Blastwave FX
- Webtones - Blastwave FX
- Zombie Apocalypse - Blastwave FX
- The Detroit Chop Shop Sound Effects Series - Sony
- Crash and Burn - Sound Ideas
- Impact Effects 1 - Sound Ideas
- Impact Effects 2 - Sound Ideas
- Monster And Creatures - Sound Ideas
- Super Sampler - Sound Ideas
- The Dark Side of Sound - Sound Ideas
- The General Extensions III & IV - Sound Ideas
- Hyperspace - The Hollywood Edge
- Sonic Energy - The Hollywood Edge
- The High Impact Series - The Hollywood Edge
- The Guns of Cinema - The Serafine Collection
- Modules II - Video Helper
- Noise Generator - Slam, Bang, Boom - Video Helper
- Noise Generator - Transitions - Video Helper